Hickory Tavern

After trying for a while to find a bar in Asheville that was playing the Stanley Cup finals I called Hickory Tavern and they said they would be playing it. It’s shockingly hard to find anywhere in Asheville playing hockey. So my gang and I geared up for the game and went here and they were super awesome and accommodating. While they have about a million TVs all around the place playing different sporting events, they put the game on the GIANT TV in the middle of the bar for us. Like, borderline movie theater sized screen. There wasn’t any audio playing, just music and we asked if they had mini speakers for individual tables and they ended up putting the game comentary over the whole sound system.
Their menu had a lot of good looking food, though we mostly stuck to beer. I was eyeing the build-​your-​own salad section but had already ate, though one of the friends I was with said the salads were great. We did consume an impressive about of tater tots which were exceptionally delicious and enjoyed their extensive beer menu. My only criticism was that the Black and Tan I ordered was more like a Brown and Brown as the beers weren’t separated but not a deal-​breaker by any means.
Overall our experience was great, Hickory Tavern is everything you could ever want from a sports bar. We are excited to watch the rest of the series there!

Great sports bar with a huge selection of microbrews, outstanding food, and a ton of large screen TVs. I’d put the shrimp & grits entrée that I had up against any classy restaurant any day… I was really impressed. The brew selection is nicely balanced between local and across the US with all styles represented. The service was friendly and attentive. I’ll definitely be back on the next biz trip to the area.

Always constant with great food! Kelly is usually always our server and fabulous. We enjoy watching games there and spending time with friends. Love the atmosphere and never have a hard time hearing or carrying on conversations like I see some reviews say. Definately go back! We are there almost once a week!

Mediocre food at best. Cool atmosphere with a generous selection of beer on tap. However the atmosphere did not make up for the quality of food or service received. More importantly the food ordered did not match the menu descriptions.
I ordered the grilled pimento cheese sandwich, which I was disheartened when it came to the table still cold in the middle.

The food was great, the atmosphere was perfect and the best part was our service! Our waitress was Nicki and she was amazing! Definitely recommend!

Good food and good service. It’s a sports bar so don’t expect a romantic atmosphere. But for family and friends and good food and drinks, I’m a fan.

Pros: lots of tvs to watch your game
Cons: way over priced
Rude careless staff
Music so loud you can’t hear your friends talk
Mediocre food, completely bland
The staff are by far the worst restaurant staff I’ve come across. Really, if you can’t smile and be half friendly why are you working in the service business? Needs to retrain about half the servers and all the bartenders. I guess anything goes in this unprofessional hipster time. Even personal hygiene doesn’t matter when hiring staff? If the managers are clean shaved and professionally dressed why is it ok for staff to look like hobos? Manegement needs to retrain or remove the lazy miserable servers.

We went there to watch a big ten game but it wasn’t on any of their numerous tv’s. The hostess said she’d speak to a manager to see about getting it on one of the tv’s. We waited about 15 min and were given a pretty bad booth right next to the door. No-​one around is was watching the three tvs that you could see from that both (if you crank your neck around) we kept asking our server what the manager said and finally she said they aren’t even allowed to ask if they can change it. I so don’t get this rule. We wouldn’t have been taking a tv away from anyone around us. Also, they could have just said that they wouldn’t when we got there so we could have made the decision to go someplace else.

The great atmosphere — more of a casual hang out place with TV’s all around to watch sports, etc. The service was good. And there is a good variety to choose from on the menu. Huge draft beer collection. The wait staff is friendly and well trained.

If you’re interested in discovering what a «Premium Handheld» is, please… read on…
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I feel as though if you’re a tourist visiting Asheville and you’re thinking about eating at Hickory Tavern you’d be doing yourself a major disservice. Hickory Tavern has a multitude of locations across the Southeast. You came here to experience Asheville, and this feels more like a metro banking town spot you would find with its own separate parking lot in front of a mall. You’ve visited this place before, it had a different name… a different menu… but you know this spot.
If you’re a local and you’re in the area, it’s a pretty okay place to grab a bite. I don’t think I would ever make this place a destination, although their daily specials are quite enticing. $ 3 local drafts on Thursdays makes this place the cheapest place to get a pint of a variety of local brewery’s latest offerings.
The food is fair. However, it’s hard to take a place that refers to sandwiches as «Premium Handhelds» seriously. I find myself here a baffling amount, and I typically stick to the wings. They’re reliably good, except for last night where they were fried into dry effigies of what wings look like. But hey, it was busy, I was with a large group… things happen. The shrimp and grits my friend ordered was actually impressive though. I feel like it’s kind of a gamble here, but I’ve never had anything that I would think of as bad.
This place does have a few saving graces… The service is consistently awesome. Every one of my servers has been present, pleasant, and genuinely happy. That’s what keeps me coming back. If such nice people work here, then it must be nice, right? In all truth I was thinking about giving this spot a two star rating, but I’ve had worse service at «better» establishments, so I’ve really got to give them an extra star for their FOH staff.
If you’re in to sports there are over 30 tv’s in the main dining room, plus a projector, and if that wasn’t enough there are even TV’s outside. That’s a LOT of TV. Next time I may ask them to change one of the more lack luster sports channels to something that tickles me. like Antiques Roadshow.
Aside from the TV’s the ambiance here is dark… carpeted floors, low lighting… there’s large prints of early to mid 90’s Rolling Stone magazine covers so you can marvel at the fashion choices of Hootie and the Blowfish and smile bashfully while Kid Rock points at you Uncle Sam style while you’re eating… wearing nothing but a tank top made out of bottle caps and a star spangled red fedora.

I just can’t figure out what all of the belly aching is with Hickory Tavern. I have been coming here (mostly for lunch) regularly since the place opened. It is really convenient to where we live, so a quick trip to Biltmore Town Square is a piece of cake.
I do not know the number of times I have been to HT, dozens, but I have NEVER left dissatisfied… an occasional sticker shock when the stay gets lengthy or we start hitting the oysters with a group… but never dissatisfied.
Most recent trip included the Southern Slaw Dog (hotdog with chili, slaw and mustard). Bravo for using Hebrew National dogs, great quality and tasty! How can you ruin a hotdog you ask? I suppose they could over cook the dog and burn the bun, but the dog was delicious. Now here is a tip… I do not care for their fries or home made chips, so I always get the tater tots. Great summertime lunch outing with a couple of light beers (yes I know, I could have ordered one of the dozen «craft beers» they had on tap, but it was noon in the summer and I had stuff to do the rest of the day.
I have never had bad service here (not to say that some have not, but this is my own experience). I have pretty high standards for both food and service. So, I write in defense of Hickory Tavern. Give them another shot!

We had the Shredheads, nachos and pretzels. It was so, so. Nachos were soggy, waitress was not very friendly and acted like she had better things to do.

Went there last night for the first time. I had the fish taco’s, my brother-​in-​law had the salmon, and my sister-​in-​law also had fish tacos. For an appetizer we had spinach artichoke dip. I had a couple of IPA’s and the the others had a couple glasses of wine.
The food was just good, not great, but good. After all it is a sports type of bar.
Service was a little slow, but our waitress was really nice.
Why 3 stars? Because it was just ‘good’ and service was a little slow. I wish I could give it 3.5 stars. Could easily be 4 stars is the service was a little quicker. Will I go there again? ABSOLUTELY!

Good service good food had the shrimp tacos. The patio is very nice in the summer. Great for big groups.

We don’t come here too often but for lunch today we stopped in. Got the shred heads for starters. Good shredded potatoes with cheese and other stuff balled and rolled then deep fried. Pretty tasty. We have notorious luck with drink and menu items, meaning the first thing we order, anywhere, ever… they are out of. This is no different. Ordered the freak of nature beer. Gone. But they brought us a glass of what was left for free. So bonus points for that!

FIRST & FOREMOST, I DIDN’T THINK IT WAS POSSIBLE TO BE THIS UNSATISFIED WITH A DINING EXPERIENCE IN ALL MY LIFE!
I am generally easy to please, no matter what, but I’ve never walked away from a place this unhappy, ever. Worst service and worst food I have ever had to endure.
I didn’t think you could screw up nachos as bad as they did, but they did. There was NOTHING even topped on the nachos, but yet, there they were, still wet and soggy despite the lack of delicious things needed to make chips soggy. Oh, when I say nothing, don’t take it too literally, there was a sprinkle of cheese and a tomato piece here and there.
We asked for cocktail and horseradish to go with our oysters 6 times, those *NEVER* came. My boyfriends fish tacos were so soggy, the tortilla kept breaking apart. and they were cold. The fish had an awful rancid taste.
These were just supposed to be our predinner snacks, but after this we said screw it, and decided to not order anything for dinner and asked for our check. We waited for the check for nearly twenty minutes after asking our server for it. Who stood at the bar gossiping with another waitress. I finally had to get up, and tell her I was going to use her computer system myself if she couldn’t manage it, I was so livid at this point. This was a few months ago, so I’ll be darned if I can remember the details. But nothing has ever had me seething like this place, nothing.
I don’t expect a lot from a bar with bar food, but this place has got to get it together, you’re not a lousy hole in the wall joint tucked away somewhere where people expect this. You’re in a prime spot, PEOPLE EXPECT BETTER THAN GARBAGE.

Pretty mediocre food to be perfectly honest. Its good for a drink and setting, but stay away from the menu.
I thought it was pretty funny when the waitress thought she’d keep our change. She pretended to forget but I know she didn’t.
I overheard her ask another customer if they wanted to keep their change. I decided if she was keeping people’s change and getting tips, she really didn’t need a tip from me.

We’re here in town for the «into the woods» movie. Was in the mood for fresh oysters so we came here. Oysters were good, nice and big. Daughter ordered the boneless wings with baby ray BBQ (really ?) she said it was decent. Wife ordered the B.Y.O salad w/​mahi tuna. Tuna was perfect only complaint is the salad ingredients are too finely chopped. I had buffalo chicken tacos. Everything is average, nothing spectacular. Maybe a great lunch/​game day thing but geez $ 85 (ok 6 beers) is a little much for lunch ($ 100) with tip.

Its a Hickory Tavern. Mediocre food, plenty of tv’s, and your normal sports bar theme. This one however, has local beers for $ 3 on Thursdays. Being that its Asheville, local beer is some of the best beer around. A pint of wicked weed freak of nature for $ 3!!!

Hickory Tavern is always a great place to go out, watch some sports, and have a casual night.
I have eaten many times at Hickory Tavern and have had a variety of things. The build-​your-​own salad option is great and their burgers are also very tasty and fulfilling. It tastes like pretty average sports bar food.
The service is usually pretty quick and everyone is very friendly. The bar area can get pretty loud at times, but the outdoor seating option is awesome and I would definitely recommend trying Hickory Tavern.